Raul Ibanez hit a three-run homer, Carlos Ruiz and Ryan Howard each went deep, and the Philadelphia Phillies won their ninth straight game, 10-1 over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.

Ruiz also had an RBI double during a four-run fourth inning that helped the NL East leaders turn this one into a rout.

Rodrigo Lopez (2-0) allowed one run over six innings to give the Phillies their 13th win in their last 14 games.

The Phillies are on their longest winning streak since 2006 and improved to 23-23 at home. They were 13-22 at home before they went 9-1 in their last homestand.

Ted Lilly (9-7) was rocked in his shortest outing of the season for the Cubs, who snapped a four-game winning streak.

The teams boasted the two longest winning streaks in the National League, but the start of the anticipated three-game series was all Phillies.

With Jack Nicholson wearing a Yankees cap and watching from a front-row seat, the Phillies wasted no time picking up where they left off in their first game back in Philadelphia since before the All-Star break.

Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a single, Shane Victorino followed with a double, and Ibanez connected off Lilly two batters later for his 25th homer, well over the 401-foot sign in dead center.

Ibanez moved into second place in the NL in homers, and Howard is right behind him with 24. Howard's solo shot in the eighth made it 10-1.

Chad Durbin tossed three scoreless innings to finish off the win and earn his first save for the hottest team in baseball.

Lilly had pitched at least six innings in 14 straight starts and had allowed only six runs in his last three outings (21 1-3 innings). The All-Star lefty gave up five runs after two — Ruiz connected for a two-run shot in the second — then completely unraveled behind a defensive gaffe in the fourth.

Ruiz's double and Rollins' sacrifice fly stretched the lead to 7-0. Victorino hit a deep fly to the warning track in left, and the ball bounced off the heel of Alfonso Soriano's mitt and onto the dirt for an error and another run scored.

The catch would have ended the inning. Instead, Chase Utley followed with an RBI single for a 9-0 lead that capped the inning.

Two of the runs charged to Lilly in the inning were unearned. He gave up nine runs and eight hits in four innings.

Lopez, who left his last start with right shoulder inflammation, never let the Cubs rally.

His solid effort helped his cause to stay in the rotation once Pedro Martinez is deemed healthy enough to join the Phillies. Martinez, signed as a free agent last week, was medically cleared to pitch a simulated game on Tuesday and might take Lopez's turn in the rotation in August. More effective outings like this one and Lopez could make Philadelphia's decision a tough one.

Ryan Theriot's RBI single in the fifth was all the Cubs got off Lopez.

Now that Michael Vick has finished a 23-month federal sentence for dogfighting, he shouldn't have to wait too much longer to return to the NFL, Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin said Monday.

"The law has spoken and spoken severely," Irvin told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "If the commissioner says he's not allowed back in, then how is that fair?"

To emphasize his point, Irvin compared the NFL's indefinite suspensions of Vick and Browns receiver Donte' Stallworth. While Vick was punished for nearly two years, Stallworth served 24 days of a 30-day jail sentence for pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter.

"The law spoke with Donte', but he's already been in and out of jail," Irvin said. "There still has to be a penalty with Donte' when it comes to the NFL. ... Michael Vick has already served his penalty."

Irvin understands Stallworth's plight because something similar happened to him. In 1996, Irvin pleaded no contest to drug charges and avoided any jail time, but was still suspended for five games.

Vick must convince NFL commissioner Roger Goodell of his readiness to return. Irvin said there should be a series of well-publicized meetings and, if all goes well, the suspension should be lifted a few weeks before the regular season opens.

"I don't think it should happen right away because you don't want to taint the beginning of the football season with the comeback of Michael Vick," said Irvin, who hosts a radio show in Dallas and a reality television show that concluded Monday night. "Right now you've got the comeback of Brett Favre and you've got the comeback of Tom Brady. You've got to allow that stuff time to pass through. Then, sometime in mid-August, then you work Michael Vick in."

Vick will need to find a team because the Atlanta Falcons let him go in June. Irvin suggested that Vick would fit in great as a Wildcat specialist for the New England Patriots, working under the watchful eye of coach Bill Belichick.

"For Michael Vick's sake, he needs to be on a strong team with strong leadership ability — a Belichick team, a (Bill) Parcells team," Irvin said, noting that Randy Moss hasn't drawn many bad headlines since he began playing for Belichick.

As for that Wildcat role, Irvin said Belichick is likely to be hatching something like that anyway to spring on the Miami Dolphins in revenge for their success with the Wildcat against New England last season.

"Belichick is not the kind of guy who says, `You got me. I'll forget it.' How better to get back at them than to split Tom Brady out wide and let Michael Vick take the snap?" Irvin said.

Irvin also expects Vick to still be elusive. Maybe not as much as before, but still better than anyone else.

"Michael Vick was 10 steps ahead of every quarterback when it came to running the ball. Maybe now he's only three steps ahead," Irvin said. "He's still enormously different."